May 30—Tennessee Wesleyan Bulldogs coach Billy Berry has spoken to the effect that his team is more than prepared to go without rest as much as necessary to claim an Avista NAIA World Series baseball title.
“I tell them: ‘You’ll get all the sleep you need when you’re dead,'” he said earlier this week.
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[NAIA World Series Day 7 in photos]
In a contest that started more than three hours late on Friday due to rain and lightning delays and saw enough twists, turns and scoring to encompass several normal games’ worth of play as it stretched into the a.m. hours, that attitude might have seemed fitting. The eighth-seeded Bulldogs overcame the 10th-seeded William Carey Crusaders 16-14 in an encounter at Harris Field that proved to be the longest nine-inning game in Series history, spanning 4 hours, 17 minutes.
With the win, Tennessee Wesleyan earned a spot in today’s 6:30 p.m. national title game against No. 1 Taylor (Ind.).
Bulldogs blitz to lead
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After Friday’s original 6:30 p.m. start time was nixed due to the impending storm, prospects for playing at all looked dubious as hours of rain pelted the stadium. A determined crew of volunteers and interns put out tarps and stayed at the ready to have the field in a playable state, dancing to stadium music along the way to stay warm and pass the time. Once the rain finally subsided, TWU took to the field first of the two teams as an exuberant fan called out, “Let’s get this started! Two more games! Two more games!”
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The opening pitch was thrown at 9:52 p.m.
Having played a punishing schedule this week and exhausted its usual suspects at the mound, Tennessee Wesleyan (47-15) displayed pitching staff depth in the form of a strong start from senior Isaiah Williams. The 6-foot-6 left-hander provided an imposing presence as he oversaw four innings of shutout ball with three strikeouts while his team built an 8-0 lead.
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Hagen Escoto sent a two-run home run over the left-field fence in the second inning to create scoreboard separation for TWU at 3-0. Josh Shelly would blast his own solo homer two innings later to stretch the lead to 6-0 before Kolton Reynolds fired a two-run shot over right field to bring the mercy rule into view.
Crusaders battle back
William Carey coach Bobby Halford made it a recurring theme throughout this Series to suggest that his team seemed to benefit from divine intervention, enabling it to muster wins from the most improbable positions.
The Crusaders (41-19) looked poised for perhaps their biggest miracle yet shortly after midnight when they rallied from the early eight-run deficit to take a 13-9 lead in the top of the sixth.
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A three-run home run from Franklin Hernandez in the fifth inning started the comeback for William Carey.
Williams began to run out of steam for TWU in the fifth, and he and three relievers took turns struggling in the sixth, which saw the Crusaders rack up an incredible 10 runs on six hits, five walks and a hit-by-pitch.
Down-to-the-wire
Though they might briefly have appeared to be in disarray upon finding themselves on the receiving end of the Series’ most improbable comeback, the Bulldogs proved their own resilience and then some. With rain once again falling, they nosed back into the lead an inning later as Escoto delivered the go-ahead RBI single.
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Jayden Mark drove Alan McClean home for the Crusaders’ final run of the day in the top of the eighth, knotting things back up at 14-14 as the hour neared 2 a.m. The prospect of extra innings loomed, with bands of hardcore supporters for each team buckling down to stay as long as necessary.
The Bulldogs took the lead for the last time when Josh Shelly hit an RBI double for the Bulldogs, then reached home himself with the help of a David Ballenilla single and a slip on the wet grass from a William Carey fielder.
In the top of the ninth, TWU closer Bradley Johnson started things off earning a strikeout swinging against William Carey’s Tyler Ducksworth. The Crusaders’ Weston Wales hit a powerful line drive to an open space in the outfield past first base, but the Bulldogs’ Kolton Reynolds headed it off on a dead run, dove at full extension and snagged the ball in his glove, coming up with it after rolling sidelong on the grass to earn the second out.
The game’s final at-bat was fittingly dramatic, coming down to William Carey’s Gage Hinnant sitting on a full count. Hinnant shifted backward to avoid an incoming pitch which he did not believe to be fair — but instead of receiving a walk, he heard a third strike called, bringing the game to its official conclusion at 2:09 a.m.
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Takeaways
The Crusaders’ stunning run to the business end of the tournament while holding its bottom seed was thus narrowly brought to an end. A title-round appearance would have been the Crusaders’ first since 1969.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, continue a pattern of reaching the final every seven years, having done so previously in 2012 and 2019. They came away victorious on both occasions.
Tennessee Wesleyan will have a short turnover and face long odds on paper against the top-seeded Trojans (56-6) today — but this year’s Series has often proven to be a tournament for underdogs.
William Carey 000 03(10) 010—14 17 2
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Tennessee Wesleyan 131 311 420—16 20 3
D. Wallace, J. Johnson (2), J. Hawsey (4), C. Ougel (6), M. Davis (6), G. Hinnant (8) and F. Hernandez; I. Williams, C. Clark (6), J. Fulwood (6), B. Johnson (6) and T. Teel, J. Tolson, A. Stenzel.
William Carey hits — D. Booth 4, J. Mark 3, A. McClean 3, R. John 2, G. Hinnant 2, T. Walters 2, F. Hernandez (HR), T. Ducksworth, N. Arender, H. Carley.
Tennessee Wesleyan — J. Shelly 3 (2B, HR), H. Escoto 3 (HR), E. Wright 3 (2B), D. Ballenilla 2 (2B), K. Reynolds 2 (2B), A. Gil Fernandez 2, R. Gordon 2, B. Espinoza 2, J. Tolson.
Players of the game
Tennessee Wesleyan’s Josh Shelly went 3-for-4 at the plate with three RBI, delivering the ultimate go-ahead hit and crossing home plate for the last run of the day. Bulldog starter Isaiah Williams pitched four shutout innings to help the team build an 8-0 lead.
For William Carey, DeeJay Booth batted 4-for-6 with three RBI, while Franklin Hernandez launched a three-run homer that sparked the Crusaders’ rally back into contention.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
